Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education. I refer to a media release still on the minister's website—Pyne Online—titled 'Coalition will not cap places or raise HECS' Given the government is massively increasing university fees, why is Pyne Online lying online?

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member may rephrase her question. 'Lying' is unparliamentary.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I raise a point of order: the question did not refer to the minister lying; it is this mysterious Pyne Online website which is lying.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order. As I said, the member can rephrase the question.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Unless the man is a website, it is not unparliamentary.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Kingston will rephrase the question.

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will rephrase the question. My question is to the Minister for Education. I refer to a media release still on the minister's website, Pyne Online, titled, 'Coalition will not cap places or raise HECS'. Given the government is massively increasing university fees, why is the minister misleading the Australian people on his website?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It does not rain but it pours. I have now had two questions from the shadow minister for tertiary education. I must admit, she has a much higher work rate than the former shadow minister, the member for Adelaide. I have to say, it is possible that the reason the shadow minister asked me the question is because the taxpayers did get value for money for her undergraduate degree because she finished hers, whereas the shadow minister started two and the taxpayers paid 60 per cent of the cost for both of them and neither of them were finished. So you should get back to university and finish both of those.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is on your website. It was on the ALP website.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no way in the world that is relevant to the question.

Mr Snowdon interjecting—

Honourable members interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There will be silence! And the member for Lingiari will withdraw that comment.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Manager of Opposition Business's point of order is quite valid. The minister will return to the question.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am delighted to get a question from the member for Kingston about higher education because it gives me the opportunity to refute both of the statements she made. Firstly, we are actually expanding the demand-driven system in the reform bill to sub-bachelor courses, diplomas and associate degrees so that tens of thousands more young people will get the opportunity to do those pathways courses into undergraduate degrees. They are mostly used by low-socioeconomic-status young people, mature-age students and first generation university goers to get to university. It is a reform that I would have thought Labor would have supported—expanding opportunity to more students.

The second thing, of course, is that the shadow minister repeats the calumny she raised in the previous question, which is that we are planning to increase fees. We are doing no such thing. We are deregulating. And thank you for promoting my website, Pyne Online. The more people who are looking at it the better. It has some very good information, and if only you looked at it more often you would have a much better idea about policy and good policy at that from this government. We are not, of course, increasing HECS. What will happen is that universities will reduce fees in some courses. They will make decisions about other courses and will add a value to the services they are providing to students. They will earn that revenue and they will build the biggest Commonwealth scholarships fund in Australia's history, because somebody has to pay for universities. We are asking students to pay fifty-fifty. Labor wants it to be free. I would remind her of the former leader of her party, Paul Keating. He said in 1995:

There is no such thing, of course, as “free” education. Somebody has to pay … the majority of whom haven’t had the privilege of a university education. Ask yourself if you think that is a fair thing.

More than 60 per cent of Australians do not have a university education, and you are currently asking to pay more than 60 per cent because you want free education. We recognise that those people deserve a fifty-fifty split and that is what we will give them.